Weekly Recap

This was a tough week! With George out town since Monday afternoon, I couldn’t do any of my weight workouts in the morning. This usually isn’t a big deal because I’m only scheduled to work until 3:00 pm and can usually workout before picking up the kids, but work was crazy busy this week and I ended up staying several hours late a few days this week.

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My trainer prefers afternoon strength training over morning training, but I like knowing it’s done and out of the way without worrying about how late I’ll work or what other obligations will pop up later in the day. I also like being able to take my kids to the zoo, museum, or other fun activity in the afternoon before heading home for dinner.

But this was NOT the week for that. Even with my parents’ help, I still struggled to get all my workouts in and still make it home for dinner. On Thursday afternoon I just couldn’t get into my workout. Every machine I wanted to use was in use and I was dragging. When I finally finished the strength portion, I couldn’t even fathom running on the treadmill as I had planned. Instead, I decided I would walk on the treadmill at a steep incline. You know how sometimes you tell yourself it will be better once you get started and then it actually is? Yeah, this wasn’t one of those days. Each minute seemed excruciatingly long. After 20 minutes, I called it quits and headed home.

Challenges

My biggest challenge this week was fitting in my training around life! This is a time-consuming hobby, but I knew that going in. However, it does allow me to schedule training around my other commitments like work, parenting, family time, and other obligations. Even with additional help from my parents this week, I felt like I was just barely fitting it all in, and the stress finally got to me at the end of the week with a little mini binge.

This week I mostly ate my Icon Meals while George was out of town and started eating more grilled chicken salads with a side of brown rice for lunch. But towards the end of the week, I developed some weakness with my willpower and ate some chocolate chips while standing in front of the pantry! Not even a really indulgent choice, just a lapse in willpower that I immediately regretted.

Recipe of the Week

Valentine’s Day was this week, and because I knew I wouldn’t be able to go the preschool Valentine’s day lunch party, I tried to do a little something special for breakfast by cutting strawberries into cute little hearts (this was way harder than it initially looked!). I also made this Strawberry Chia Oatmeal Pudding as a festive little overnight oatmeal pudding breakfast for myself! A little love and a lot of protein to kick off my V-Day!

I worked out with my trainer on Wednesday afternoon and again on Saturday for a group training session. It was so much fun to meet a few other athletes on the team and chat about their experience in past competitions and how they got interested in training for bikini competitions.

George returned from his work trip on Thursday night and I was so ready for a morning workout. One of my favorite things about 5 am workouts is that I usually have the entire weight room to myself until about 6:00 am. I feel like I can speed through my workout never having to wait for equipment, and I don’t have to feel like an idiot when I’m trying to figure out a new exercise!

I was so excited when George returned from his work trip! But the weekend was a whirlwind and I barely got to see him. He played in a golf tournament on Friday, I went to team training on Saturday morning, and we had my parents and their friends visiting from Minnesota over for dinner on Saturday. Seriously, some of the meals on my meal plan are so delicious, I don’t think they even noticed we served them “diet food.” We grilled filet mignon and asparagus, roasted sweet potatoes, and sauteed spinach (although George did add cheese and cream to make it more appealing to our guests). Then a little bread and wine for our guests turned it into a decadent meal for our guests while still allowing me to eat a meal within my meal plan guidelines!

Progress

Here are some progress pictures from right before I started training for the bikini competition and now. On November 28th, I was 7 months postpartum, and now I’m almost 10 months postpartum. I’m really happy with the progress I’ve made… the weight loss has been slow and steady, I’ve maintained my breast milk supply, I feel stronger, and I’m eating a LOT of food. I never thought I’d be able to actually lose weight by eating more food!

Bikini Training Program Weekly Recap

Strength x 5 days (mostly 5 sets)
Cardio x 4 days (20 minutes HIIT or 35 minutes steady state)
1 class per week (for fun if I want to)

Strength Training

Monday: AM Legs/Abs

Tuesday: PM Shoulders

Wednesday: PM Chest/Triceps/Biceps with my trainer

Thursday: PM Legs/Glutes

Friday: PM Back/Biceps

Saturday: AM Legs (bonus group training with my trainer)

Sunday: Rest

Cardio

Monday: evening 35 minute 10% incline treadmill walk (zoned out while watching This Is Us on the iPad after I put the kids to bed)

Tuesday: none

Wednesday: AM 37 minute treadmill run (AM non-fasted)

Thursday: 20 minute 8% incline treadmill walk (after strength training)

Friday: none

Saturday: 38 minute treadmill interval run (AM non-fasted)

Sunday: none

Meal Plan

Here’s what a typical day of eating looks like for me (please keep in mind that this meal plan customized for MY specific dietary needs for my height, weight, workout intensity, AND my caloric needs for breastfeeding). This may not be appropriate for you.

This week we added in more carbs to my breakfast and dinner increase my carb tolerance. Because the Milk Drunk protein powder has 17g carbs per serving, I substitute that for another piece of toast, otherwise, I could eat 2 pieces of Ezekiel toast and a traditional lower carb protein shake. It’s so much food!!